Catherine the Great's Palace

This was a GREAT day! Father's Day spent with one of finest Russian Tour Guides in one of the more remarkable places in the world, a village called Tsarko Selo. This is where Catherine the Great's palace is located, as well as Alexander's Palace. More on Alexandar's Palace later. These gates are at one of the formal entries into Catherine's Palace. It's a beautiful blue color with Terra Cotta accents. (It used to be gold guilded accents on the outside of the building, but stories suggest that one time, Catherine was entering the palace and thought it was on fire. It was actually the sun setting and reflecting off the gold. It scared her so much that she had the gold changed to terra cotta. The real story....she was running out of money to continue to replace gold. I like the sun story better:)

This is the view as we walked through the gates. What's stunning about this place is this view is only about 1/3 of the palace. If you look carefully, you can see the terra cotta accents (they look brown) on the outside. Again, just like home...

This was the ball room in the palace. If my memory is correct, Empress Elizabeth, who was actually the catalyst in the first creation of the place, wanted this to be the most grand palace in the world. She actually went to Versaille and after seeing their stunning ball room, decided her's should be the same, only 2x's as large. This room is fully guilded, the floor has at least 9 types of wood. What's also interesting is that is was destroyed by the Nazi's in WWII. They took this palace as one of their HQ and were having a Christmas party in the ball room. The allies didn't like it so they attacked. We saw pictures of this room after the bombing. There was no ceiling and few walls. You can also see a HUGE piano at the back. It belongs to Elton John...a 10 ft Steinway. He plays concerts for charity every 3-4 months in this very room. No, I didn't try out the piano, but geez, did I want to.

At first, we weren't going to show this picture, but again, it's the story that makes it relevant. You see 6 plates. I can't remember how old they are, but surely before the Russian Revolution. The average set of dishes for the Palace numbered over 5000. And they obviously had several sets. These 6 are all that's left. Most were broken or stolen either during the revolution or when the Nazi's took over the Palace.

Peterhof Continued

This is a shot of Lori and Hillary in front of what looks like a tree. And a very tall rose bud. Note the woman walking across what appears to be large rocks underneath a tree. The rose bush and tree are actually these gravity fed fountains that shoot out water. As for the woman, who the heck knows what she is doing. Apparently, looking for her socks. Or wait....

Ok, now the story about what they call the trick fountains. The architects (from way back when), designed trick fountains. Here's how they work. When a person steps on a certain rock or series of rocks, water shoots from unexpected places and gets people who least expect it very wet. Imagine the surprise of guests who don't expect the soaking. That obviously wouldn't apply to these youngsters, however, who not only want to get wet, but obviously have read the operating instructions on which rocks to push:) I am thinking grandma in the forefront is not too happy about this situation (and she was trying to pull them out).

...and when you least expect it....as we were walking back toward the boat ticket booth, we came upon this group of "elders" who clearly came out to party at the Peterhof. What is hard to see in this picture is the 3/4 empty bottle of vodka in the hands of the woman in the black shirt. Some groups have tour guides. This one obviously had a drinking guide. I raised my glass to them, however, because they were all laughing and having a great time.

You have got to be kidding. 40 miles from St Petersburg and the wedding party is still following us around? As for the boat ride, we got into line with about 400 of our favorite friends and waited and waited and waited. A sign came up that said the last boat would be leaving at 5:30. It was 5:15. But magically, another ticket window opened up and I ran to it for tickets. I felt like a refugee trying to flee the dictator who had just taken over the country. "Let me out!". But we all made it back in good shape....on another speed boat...with curtains.

Off to the Peterhof

Today we are headed to the Peterhof Palace. Do you get the idea that there are lots of palaces in Russia? We found out that one aristocrat had 56 of them?! The Peterhof is located on the Gulf of Finland on land from Peter the Great. I'll dispense with the history for now. It's more important to know how we got there. By speed boat. This picture is from inside the speed boat. Have you ever been in a speed boat with curtains? Us either. We got a late start this day and had to expedite our travel time. So we took the 30 minute boat vs very confusing lines of trains and taxis. Only downside was that they couldn't guarantee us a way back. This was almost 40 miles from SP?! I'll hold you in suspense for the ending....

The Peterhof is beautiful. A huge palace of course, but the real artistry of this property is the fountains and outdoor gardens. 1500 acres of them! This shot is looking toward the mansion from one of the bazillion fountains.

This may be one of our favorite pictures from St Petersburg. It accurately captures the beauty and scale of this scene from real life. This is looking down toward the Gulf from the mansion. It also resembles my view of our backyard when the sprinklers are running. What's fascinating about these fountains is they are all gravitationally fed. No pumps. Can you imagine the water pressure needed to reach these heights!?



And let's not forget the back of this small place. I am at least 2 football fields back from this palace during this shot. We didn't go inside the Peterhof since we had to get to the "we can't guarantee you a boat ride back" ticket stands.

Before we move to our next tourist location, here are a set of pics that speak to I don't know what. This first one we found very ironic. Note the Christ-like figure the guy is standing in front of. Now note the bottle next to his right foot. I watched him for a bit. He would pray. Then he would look at Christ. Then take a drink. Then start the process again. I believe at this point, he is either waiting for some holy reaction or thinking of his next request...

Across the street from the church above is this HUGE souvenir bazaar. They sell everything one would ever hope to buy in Russia. And they are dutifully aggressive about wanting you to buy. One thing you see everywhere in St Petersburg are matryoshka's (stacking dolls). About a million of them. But one thing we didn't think we would see were stacking dolls painted like Big Ten Mascots. Kind of freaked us out. And of course they sell fur hats. I told Hillary that if she would don one, I would start singing Somewhere My Love from Dr Zhivago. (While she removed it before I could warm up my vocal cords, truth is she's been talking about getting one of these since the start of our trip. We fully expect to be bringing one back on the plane. In summer. To Chicago.)












The second night we ate at this wonderful outdoor cafe. Rather than walk, we opted for a cab. We were warned that taxis in SP can be questionable. So our hotel flagged one down. Scooter (hotel guy) stopped what appeared to be a random car (no taxi sign, no meter, some windows missing) to take us. He ensured us skippy (cab driver) would get us to the restaurant. We flew off with radio blasting. Good news. We made it. Bad news. Skippy let us off about a mile from the restaurant. Took me 3 minutes to order vodka. Shared it with Hillary who also informed me that sipping vodka was a bit foreign to her. (vs what....?)

St Isaacs and the BIG Bronze Statue

Welcome to St Petersburg's version of any great city park. This is located not far from the Winter Palace. It was a beautiful day and there were loads of couples just hanging out enjoying the sun. My suspicion is that with the harsh cold winters, the locals flock outdoors to enjoy every ounce of sun they can grab.

Here are two references to great leaders and a guy from Chicago. This is a Statue called the Bronze Horseman, located in the park I referenced to above. It took 12 years to create and was commissioned by Catherine the Great in honor of Peter the Great. With Jack the not so great right up front. The stone base alone is one piece of granite that weighs more than 1600 tons. What I liked about this was the simplicity of the engraving. "To Peter I from Catherine II". It's also known that newlyweds pose in front of this statue for good luck. That is a concept that I cannot understand.

This is St. Isaac's Cathedral. About 2 blocks south of the Bronze Horseman. Note the size of this church vs the bus you can see in the lower right corner. It was built on the site where Peter the Great was married. Maybe that explains the reason the newlyweds get pictures taken in front of the Horseman....




Ok, here's proof that we are not lying about the newlyweds. If we saw 2, we saw a hundred of them. And they were walking through the streets of downtown St Petersburg, the grounds at the Peteroff Palace...it was the invasion of the newlyweds. We eventually found out that it's very common for them to come to these locations with their entire wedding parties for pictures and partying. They do this sometimes a week(s) after the wedding. I have to hand it to them, what a great place to parade and get pictures taken. Point of reference, I think the two on the right are party crashers...

Hermitage

We don't have that many pictures inside the Hermitage. They wanted an extra 200 rubles to take pictures (about $6 that I could better invest in pastries). But I did sneak this room in. It's remarkable...all walls are guilded and the floor is hand carved with several different types of woods. Just like home

And speaking of Tsars and Tsarina's, here are two of my favorites! Taken next to a huge fountain in the courtyard of the Hermitage.

Across from the Winter Palace in Palace Square there is this huge semi-circle building called the General Staff Building that was the center for the Russian Army at one point. Frankly, it looks larger and more overwhelming than the Winter Palace that is located across from it. This picture does not due justice to the statue located over the arch. Obviously, it's a chariot with driver. I took this shot from over 100 yards away and it's still massive. Across from this is Alexander's Column, dedicated to Alexander I who helped defeat Napolean. This Square is also the site where troops stormed the Winter Palace in both 1904, and 1917 that effectively started the revolution.

St Petersburg!

A brief departure from Russia. Hillary found every Irish or English pub in every city we visited. And there are a lot of both...in every city. They all look the same. We have all seen them. They are no different in Stockholm than Champaign. They do draw you in...












Ok, here we are in Russia for the first time. This is quite a great feeling. We flew through customs and immigration. We had a driver from the hotel set to meet us with a sign that said, "Buller Jack Nevsky Hotel". There he was. And then he was gone. Appears there was an economic forum in SP same time we visited. "Roman" went to get his car to pick us up and he wasn't allowed back in the airport. No fear. With Blackberry in hand, we got united with driver #2 through our hotel office mgr. "He is with 2 blonds and wears a blue baseball cap." We were all relieved to find each other. And he got us "home"!



On our first full day, we learned the hard way that using St Petersburg's bus system is not as easy as I imagined, since I can't read Russia. So we walked. And walked. And walked. about 75 miles. Here Hillary and I are WAY in front of one of St Petersburg's most famous churches. More on that later! We are on our way to the Hermitage.
















Everyone needs to view this building and the grounds. It is the Hermitage located at the heart of St Petersburg across from where Peter the Great built the city from a swamp. If I have my facts straight, Peter the Great created the first palace, but the expansion happened mostly under Catherine the Great. She collected so much art and wares and needed a place to hold them, thus the Hermitage. More pictures on it as we move forward. We walked around a corner and this is exactly what we saw. Stunning.

Stockholm Day Two

Lori and Hillary are standing in front of what was a water well with pump. This is located in the town square of Gamla Stan. We think people would raise and lower the steel arm with the ball on the end of it and the water would flow from the pipe out of the "lion's" mouth. Where the water came from...we don't know. Nor asked.

We met up with one of Hillary's good friends, Annelae. She is from Stockholm, but attended the University of Illinois last year. We met Annelae at a Christmas party at our home and made plans to reconnect in Stockholm. As you can tell, she is a VERY fun person. We spent the day with her and learned the real truth about Stockholm. We can't wait to see her again:)

One great idea Annelae suggested was to walk up 3000 stairs to the top of this lookout to see the "top" of Stockholm. It was so worth it. The 360 degree view was amazing as you can see behind us. Very windy though. Note their hair blowing around, but mine perfectly in tact. Must have been the "tourist" hat I wore almost everyday.

Speaking of views and our previous reference to architecture, this picture says it all! We loved Stockholm. Our biggest mistake was not having enough time to see it all. But we had great, great food every night, great snacks (Hot chocolate in bowls vs cups), met some of the friendliest and most helpful people. And the "colors" of this city are remarkable. I think it's linked to the personality of the Swedes. Colorful, able to cope with wild swings of daylight, and always upbeat about life.

Stockholm - continuation of Day One

Speaking of the warship, let's have some guesses as to what the wooden square holed item is? Dirty Laundry shoot? No. Place to hide loot from pirating? Nope. Toilet? You got it. Only two of these on board for +300 sailors. I guess they were sailing in open water....

One of the greatest things about Stockholm is their architecture. They have protected it well. This building was a fortress that today serves really no purpose. But it flies the flag of Sweden every day of the year. And it's the only building on the island across from the amusement park. Speaking of which....





Look at the raw joy on the faces of the kids as they go flying out of their seats! This ride flies right over the Baltic, which by the way, is colder than Lake Michigan. Imagine their delight at the possibility of flying into the Baltic. No wonder Swedish kids are so tough.






In the center of Stockholm is an island that, again, is a must see. It dates to around 1200 AD and was the original town of Stockholm, now called Old Town or Gamla Stan. We roamed these narrow streets for hours. Great shopping, eating, and people watching. (We are sure everyone on Gamla Stan is NOT from Stockholm:)

Stockholm Day One

Welcome to the Hotel Rival, owned by Benny of ABBA. Yep. Judging by Hillary's reaction, this hotel was great. All red inside and a beautiful sunny park across the street. Speaking of sun, it hardly ever sets in Stockholm during June. So match that with our unwillingness to sleep and you have a spark and a powderkeg. We loved this place.

This is the big amusement park in Sweden. Grona Lund. Located on one of the 4 million islands in the Archipelago. We jumped an 8 minute ferry to get to this island to see two museums, which you'll see shortly. I took 65 pictures of kids happily enjoying these rides. But you'll have to wait for the book "Having a Great Afternoon at Grona Lund" to be published.

This was the inside of the Nordik Museet (I think that's Museum in Swedish). Very good views of how people really lived in Sweden, to include how they dressed, adorned their rooms, set their tables, toys they played with, and doll houses. About 75 doll houses. All filled with doll house furniture and doll house people. The actual museum was an awesome building. It's designer built it specifically for the purpose of being a museum. When asked how he would fund it, he told folks he would worry about that after it was built. hhhmmmm.....

The last museum we saw on this island and a must for anyone going to Stockholm is the Vassa Museet. They pulled an old war ship out of the water 333 years after it sank. It's been meticulously rebuilt almost all from its original pieces and the story how they brought it up in the 60's is remarkable. What's not remarkable is how it sank. It fired a celebration cannon shot after sailing 200 ft from it's first port, caught a wind, listed to the left, listed to the right, took in water and sank like a piece of lead. They blamed it on a bad design...too tall and too narrow. Bet someone was killed for that...

Onnestad!

Here Hillary and I are, ready to drive with Jack into the village of Onnestad. It was such fun to see the sign. We are lucky, too, because of the three villages we visited, Onnestad is the one which remains a true village. That may be because it holds the location of the church which was attended by all the residents of the villages we tried to visit. Of interesting note, one of the three villages we happily found on Google Earth is now a corn field and the other has more cows than people. On a high note, Onnestad has a school and a library.

This was the type of home we saw in Onnestad. Red brick with lots of gingerbread. Very charming. And as we drove we tried to glimpse the church tower that we had seen in pictures Amy sent. Much like the Swedes who lived in this house tried to get a glimpse of the Americans trying to take a picture of their home.

And here it is! My great grandparents grew up in this village and attended this church. They were married here in 1878 before they emigrated to Nebraska. My great-great-grandmother was buried here in 1868. We couldn't find her headstone. Her name was Anna Anderson. Unfortunately most of the stones were dated after her death. But as you expect in these villages, there are only about 4 family names in total, i.e. Anderson, Nilson, Andersson and Nilsson. As such, we found 45 Anna Andersons, 75 Nils Nilsons...Can't imagine what a family reunion is like! As with the other church we visited, a graveyard surrounds it. Local residents still attend services here. The building dates from around 1200.

And here are Jack and Hillary. Jack was busy for much of our visit trying to talk to an elderly man. We first saw him watering the flowers on the graves. Jack approached him to ask his help in locating Anna Anderson's gravestone. We quickly realized he talked in 98% Swedish and 2% English. "Svironmenson Gut Merson Ver cut Detroit Vas de man Chicago."

But he was so kind. He even went to his home and brought back the 2010 Church Magazine that listed emigration records dating back to the early 1800's. All written in Swedish. And when he realized that edition was of no help, he went back to his home and got us the 2009 edition. Because it was obvious the edition was the problem in our not finding Anna's gravestone, not the fact that it was written in Swedish. He also directed all of his conversation to Hillary, the true looking Swede and continually tried dialing someone on a cell phone. We don't know who or why. The ironies of communication. True story. (This is a post by both Lori and Jack-can you tell?)